𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 {𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐭 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫}

thirty: the terrifying realisation

We didn't hide for long, as the plane was only near us for a mere two minutes, before we finally ventured out back into the sunlight. In the shade the temperature was bearable, however, once we were back into direct sun, I realised how warm it actually was.

It was beginning to become much more challenging to hide my discomfort while Newt gave me confused looks from afar. It was obvious I was boiling, as I refused to remove my jacket in fear that everyone would see the mark. I knew that without any covering, it would be seen almost immediately as it was large and jet black; very visible to the naked eye.

Trudging along sand was harder than I would have thought, and it was easy to lose your footing and slip over, which has happened multiple times already. But it didn't seem to matter as we finally seemed to reach something promising.

"A little further, guys." were the reassuring words that Thomas would spew every five to ten minutes or so. It only really seemed less irritating once we ran up a rather large sandy hill. Thomas reached it first, peering over to make the others desperately want to know what he was looking at. Finally, we all made it up, as I stared at the things in front of me.

"Those mountains, that's gotta be it. That's where we're going." My eyes widened at his words; our target was so far away, I could barely see it. The mountains stood tall, intimidating to the things around it as a foggy mist engulfed it in its arms.

Almost as if he could read my thoughts, Newt said exactly what I was thinking. "That's a long way off."

The boy nodded slowly, acknowledging his statement, however it was clear that it was dismissed almost immediately. "Then we better get moving." He said as he took a short step forward, a grin growing on his face, before a body fell through the crowd.

"Winston!"

It took a second to register what was going on as the boy's almost limp body collapsed into the sand. In the few hours that had passed, he looked even worse than before. Everyone, including me, rushed to the boy's side as I carefully picked his head off the ground to brush the sand away from his eyes.

"He doesn't look good." I said quietly, moving my gaze up to the others to take in their faces. All of them had a painfully concerned expression growing as Newt knelt down next to me. "Winston. Can you hear me?" He says, desperately trying to get the boy to open his eyes.

They stayed closed as he panted himself into exhaustion in my arms. I looked over at Teresa as she was examining his wound. She tried to not throw up at the sight of it as I peered over. It was vile.

His skin barely even resembled human life anymore, while he continued to bleed out.

"Grab his legs." Thomas rushed over, bringing what seemed to be an extremely small makeshift gurney. My brows furrowed at the object. Where the hell did he get that?

I stood up as I began to help the boy onto whatever the thing was. He whimpered and cried but sure enough he made it on fine, as we decided to try a rotation method, where two pull for a bit and then switch.

It was smart, and for the time being I had faith that we could continue on.

--

After what felt like hours of walking, we found a cove to stow away in for a while. Winston laid down on the floor, with his head slightly elevated off the ground. Minute by minute he seemed to deteriorate, as I watched him intently.

I sat on some concrete slabs, my elbows rested on my knees as my leg jolted quickly up and down, refusing to tear my gaze away from the boy. I saw what those things could do before, so I didn't think it was crazy to be cautious. Although no one said it out loud, we all know he's slowly turning into one; I think even he knows.